For Writers: Show Don’t Tell – Conflict and Stakes

Before you can create conflict, you must determine what your protagonist wants most. What are his or her goals?

1. Basic Survival (Safety, food, water, air, sleep)
2. Emotional (Love, self-esteem, achievement, respect….)
3. Relational (Family, friends, spouse, ….)
4. Spiritual (Salvation, spiritual, growth, spiritual battles, ….)

Clarify the stakes:

• What is at risk?
• What are the rewards?
• How will it impact your character’s life?

Note: The higher the stakes, the more tension a writer generates and keeps his/her audience reading

There are two basic types of conflict:

• Internal (struggles within)
• External (opposition without)

Note: Conflict should cause your protagonist to change. Whatever the cause, be sure your story reflects a development in your protagonist’s personal growth.

Multiple conflicts of varying degrees add depth to a story:

• Most stories have a core conflict, a central struggle which the protagonist has to work through.
• Smaller, secondary conflicts can exacerbate the core conflict and create more suspense

Determine the resolution to your protagonist’s conflicts. How will he resolve his situation in a way that is both believable and satisfying to the reader?

Example from my upcoming novel, The Ditty Box:

Core goal: Nora seeks to begin a new life on Ocracoke Island

Stakes:

1. Transform her aunt’s house – her inheritance – into a successful bed-and-breakfast
2. Acceptance into a tight-knit community

External Conflict: Someone is trying to prevent her. The house and her own life are in jeopardy.

Internal Conflicts: Fear of failure, coping with her grief, trust issues, struggling with the ‘goodness of God’ in the face of personal losses.